I've been working as the Social Media Editor and a staff writer at Forbes since October 2011. Prior to that, I worked as a freelance writer and contributor here. On this blog, I focus on futurism, cutting edge technology, and breaking research. Follow me on Twitter - @thealexknapp. You can email me at aknapp@forbes.com

Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk

Captain James T. Kirk is one of the most famous Captains in the history of Starfleet. There’s a good reason for that. He saved the planet Earth several times, stopped the Doomsday Machine, helped negotiate peace with the Klingon Empire, kept the balance of power between the Federation and the Romulan Empire, and even managed to fight Nazis. On his five-year mission commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise, as well as subsequent commands, James T. Kirk was a quintessential leader, who led his crew into the unknown and continued to succeed time and time again.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Kirk’s success was no fluke, either. His style of command demonstrates a keen understanding of leadership and how to maintain a team that succeeds time and time again, regardless of the dangers faced. Here are five of the key leadership lessons that you can take away from Captain Kirk as you pilot your own organization into unknown futures.

1. Never Stop Learning

“You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there’s no such thing as the unknown– only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.”

Captain Kirk may have a reputation as a suave ladies man, but don’t let that exterior cool fool you. Kirk’s reputation at the Academy was that of a “walking stack of books,” in the words of his former first officer, Gary Mitchell. And a passion for learning helped him through several missions. Perhaps the best demonstration of this is in the episode “Arena,” where Kirk is forced to fight a Gorn Captain in single combat by advanced beings. Using his own knowledge and materials at hand, Kirk is able to build a rudimentary shotgun, which he uses to defeat the Gorn.

If you think about it, there’s no need for a 23rd Century Starship Captain to know how to mix and prepare gunpowder if the occasion called for it. After all, Starfleet officers fight with phasers and photon torpedoes. To them, gunpowder is obsolete. But the same drive for knowledge that drove Kirk to the stars also caused him to learn that bit of information, and it paid off several years later.

In the same way, no matter what your organization does, it helps to never stop learning. The more knowledge you have, the more creative you can be. The more you’re able to do, the more solutions you have for problems at your disposal. Sure, you might never have to face down a reptilian alien on a desert planet, but you never know what the future holds. Knowledge is your best key to overcoming whatever obstacles are in your way.

2. Have Advisors With Different Worldviews

“One of the advantages of being a captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it.”

Kirk’s closest two advisors are Commander Spock, a Vulcan committed to a philosophy of logic, and Dr. Leonard McCoy, a human driven by compassion and scientific curiosity. Both Spock and McCoy are frequently at odds with each other, recommended different courses of action and bringing very different types of arguments to bear in defense of those points of view. Kirk sometimes goes with one, or the other, or sometimes takes their advice as a springboard to developing an entirely different course of action.

However, the very fact that Kirk has advisors who have a different worldview not only from each other, but also from himself, is a clear demonstration of Kirk’s confidence in himself as a leader. Weak leaders surround themselves with yes men who are afraid to argue with them. That fosters an organizational culture that stifles creativity and innovation, and leaves members of the organization afraid to speak up. That can leave the organization unable to solve problems or change course. Historically, this has led to some serious disasters, such as Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Organizations that allow for differences of opinion are better at developing innovation, better at solving problems, and better at avoiding groupthink. We all need a McCoy and a Spock in our lives and organizations.

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Well done Alex. You point out five valuable leadership traits. Don’t forget that the Enterprise has one of the great mission statements of all time: “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

I especially like the points about Kirk being surrounded by two advisors with polar views to one another. Not only did that make for more enjoyable, edgy dialogue in the films and show, it’s a simple appointment any politician or corporate exec can carry out. Of course one need the cojones, like Kirk, to actually *want* to surround yourself with people who disagree with you.

The second point was stated a bit more bluntly on the Aaron Sorkin series “Sports Night” by the character Isaac Jaffe: “If you’re dumb, surround yourself with smart people… and if you’re smart, surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you.” That’s a mantra we all should live by.

I would not agree with having all smart people that disagree with you. Some of them should be smart people that agree with you, but have possibly better ideas. If we are really smart, we will recognize the ones with better ideas on both sides. To bad our politicians don’t work this way.

This is probably the single greatest point about management and leadership.

Also extended into TNG. If you go back and watch all the “meeting” scenes Picard always has someone (Jordi or Data) layout the problem and then ask for options. Not until everyone has spoken does he decide which one to use or a mix of them.

Too many times I have seen management chill a meeting from the start with “Here is what I think we should do…”. Let others discuss the points and then you decide on those. If there is a point being missed add it to the conversation. Multiple opinions are similar to the knowledge concept, the more you know the better off you are.

The Prime Directive comes in a close second, which when combined with the Enterprise’s mission statement creates that trademark balance that is the hallmark of Starfleet. Explore softly but carry a fully charged phaser bank

…These are very good, but please remember that (i) he carried a gun that obliviated his enemies and (ii) he could beam himself out of any uncomfortable situation. Those are two very nice perks. Makes it easy to be a good leader when you can vaporize the creatures you hate.